"There ain't but two things in music: good and bad. Now if it sounds good, you don't worry what it is. You're just gonna enjoy it." -- Louis Armstrong

Monday, September 19, 2011

GOREY BY GRIMES - Tammy Grimes

YEAR: 1980

LABEL: Caedmon

TRACK LISTING: The Listing Attic, The Osbick Bird, The Deranged Cousins, The Gashlycrum Tinies, The Evil Garden, The Untitled Book, The Eleventh Episode, The Bug Book, The Pious Infant, The Listing Attic (some more), The Listing Attic (yet more), The Wuggly Ump, The Disrespectful Summons, The Gilded Bat, The Doubtful Guest, The Inanimate Tragedy, Story For Sara, The Salt-Herring, The Listing Attic (still more)

IMPRESSIONS: Once upon a time, Caedmon Records were the place to go to get spoken word on vinyl. I remember I bought this record (for vinyl it is and remains) at the Wee Three Records in the Moorestown Mall around the time it came out in 1980. I was already a huge Edward Gorey fan possessing the Amphigorey volumes as well as a few other tomes so imagine my surprise and delight when I saw this in the record bin. I plucked it from its nest like a poisoned comfit and wrestled it home. Indirectly, this album is also responsible for my love of funereal organ music by the likes of Bach and Frescobaldi; there are several instances of such Bach organ music on this album notably behind the collection of limericks masquerading as "The Listing Attic" tracks. This album is out of print and apparently impossible to get; illustrating how utterly brainless the recording industry is nowadays. The album cover featured above is not the one I know; my copy has a gray-bordered cover with an Edward Gorey line illustration of three top-hatted men departing a scene in some distress.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: (By all rights, I should say all the tracks are my favourite. But I shall be judicious.): The Listing Attic, The Osbick Bird, The Deranged Cousins, The Gashlycrum Tinies, The Evil Garden, The Eleventh Episode, The Pious Infant, The Listing Attic (some more), The Listing Attic (yet more), The Wuggly Ump, The Disrespectful Summons, The Doubtful Guest, Story For Sara, The Salt-Herring, The Listing Attic (still more)

FACT SHEET: GOREY BY GRIMES is a spoken word album of stories and poems by Edward Gorey read by actress Tammy Grimes with occasional accompaniment by classical music from composers like Richard Wagner and Johann Sebastian Bach.

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MISSION STATEMENT

Here in the Dark Forest we will reach under a pile of leaves (almost) every day and pull out a favourite album to listen to. These will not be reviews per se but will feature facts, track lists and personal impressions on much-loved albums.

I strongly hope that you will leave comments relating your personal impressions and experiences related to the albums featured here. The only thing better than talking about music is listening to the music itself and I'd love to hear how this music affects you as well. So please let's hear from you.

ONE SMALL NOTE ON THE TERM "ALBUM"

This is, in fact, the correct term. An "album" does not mean a vinyl record; that term would be "record" or "LP". The term "album" means "an album of songs" in the same way as a "photo album" is "an album of photos". The definition of the word "album" means a collection of songs regardless of the medium on which it is presented. An album can be on vinyl, tape, compact disc or computer file but still remains an "album". Originally the term "album" came from the days of 78 rpm records: several records would be packaged together inside a book-shaped "album" with individual sleeves where you would slide out each record to play. With the advent of 33 1/3 rpm records (the first ever LP being Frank Sinatra's IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS) all the songs from the 78 rpm package were grouped together on one 33 1/3rd rpm LP which continued to use the word "album" even after this first change in format. That is why this blog will use that term.